With the Ravens aiming to come out of the bye week with a road victory against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The Ravens are 13-3 coming off the bye under John Harbaugh and a 16-point road favorite, which is an absurd number for any NFL game. Still, as Kyle Hamilton acknowledged, “We lost to the Raiders, who are 2-11 right now, so you can’t really go into a game [assuming anything].”
2. Derrick Henry is facing a New York defense ranking 29th in rushing yards allowed and 30th in yards per carry allowed. There’s no need to overthink this one as the Ravens should pound the rock with Henry and mix in play-action passing. Build an early lead and chew the clock.
3. Justin Tucker needs to make all of his kicks. Period. Platitudes and cliches regarding the struggling kicker aren’t helping anyone’s confidence level at this point, but Tucker making every kick between now and the start of the postseason would — at least somewhat.
4. Lamar Jackson is having an incredible season with 29 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, but he wasn’t playing his best entering the bye. For all the talk about January, Jackson sports his best passer rating in the month of December. He called the off-week “a breath of fresh air.”
5. The next step for an improving defense is forcing more turnovers as the Ravens are tied for 23rd in takeaways (11). However, playing the 10th-highest rate of man coverage isn’t conducive to intercepting many passes since defenders’ eyes aren’t on the quarterback as extensively.
6. The interior offensive line won’t have to face star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, but Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten will have their hands full with edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. The latter has had a disappointing season, but he’s played better since returning from injured reserve last month.
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7. Mark Andrews needs one touchdown to break a tie with Jamal Lewis for the most scored in franchise history with 48. Not too shabby for someone who wasn’t even the first tight end selected by the Ravens in that 2018 draft.
8. Whether Tommy DeVito can take advantage is another story, but rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers has the skills to make the secondary pay for leaky coverage. Nabers averaging just 10.2 yards per reception is quite an indictment of Giants quarterbacks this season.
9. The contrast between these offenses is wild with the Ravens ranking first in red-zone offense and having scored 20 or more points in all but two games. The Giants are last inside the red zone and have scored 20 just four times. Baltimore has nearly doubled New York in points.
10. You’d hope this is a game that ends with some younger players and backups getting some late-game reps, which could pay dividends for the future and keep some key veterans fresh for the two contests to follow. If active, Keaton Mitchell getting some touches immediately comes to mind.
11. After the Week 13 loss to Philadelphia, the Ravens fell to 23-2 in games started by Jackson against NFC opponents. The Giants had one of those wins, but as long as Saquon Barkley isn’t making a shocking return to the Meadowlands Sunday morning, Baltimore should be OK this time.
12. Though the dialogue about the turf at MetLife Stadium has calmed somewhat since it was replaced last year, the Ravens will still hold their breath. Especially for Week 15, this team is very healthy and needs to stay that way playing three games in just 11 days.
Prediction: There’s no need to make more of this game than what it is. Baltimore is the much better team and has no excuse not to handle its business against an opponent that hasn’t won a game since before Columbus Day. With a short week and then a very short week to come against two AFC contenders, Harbaugh’s team wants to get in and get out of East Rutherford with a victory that isn’t going to bring any style points because of the opponent anyway. The 8-5 Ravens may not be able to improve their perception as a contender on Sunday, but an upset defeat would prompt even their biggest supporters to label them a pretender. Even with Baltimore’s aptitude for self-inflicted mistakes, I just can’t picture the depleted Giants being able to take full advantage. The Ravens win 31-12 in a game that will be quickly forgotten.
